TEST DRIVE MEME ( 017 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #17

Hello, and welcome to LifeAftr! We’re pleased that you’re expressing an interest in the game. Here, you can test the waters, gauge how your character may fare in the world of LifeAftr, and even gain some in-game incentives, if you so choose.

Remember that Reserves will open on November 17th, and Applications on November 24th!

Two important notes:

1. LifeAftr's test drives take place on the island of Mu, which exists apart from the real world and possesses a dream-like quality that characters are innately aware of from the moment they appear on its shores. No need to panic or fret. Dreams are odd things, after all - and anything can happen in them. Why would anyone question where their mind chooses to wander in its sleep?

2. Due to the nature of Mu, threads in our test drive can not only be accepted as thread samples in your application, but can be accepted as game canon as well. In fact, certain choices your character makes in Mu have the potential to bear in-game consequences, largely in the form of test drive reward items.

Is Anyone There?
What initially promises to be a relaxing island getaway is anything but. The tropical backdrop is all there - swaying palms, crystalline shores, white sand beaches, the whole hog. It's as idyllic as Ensō ever gets in the real world, the waters sparkling just that much more with a polish of dream-shine.

The real problem here is that you're not alone.

While they might be little more than a misted, formless shape at first, they'll rapidly take a more solid form as time goes on: a specter of a single person of great emotional significance. Whoever you might be seeing, they're here to rouse some aspect of your life that was not fully resolved. Someone you did not mourn, someone you did not grieve, someone you loved, someone you cut ties with unkindly, someone who represents a chapter in your life that you have thus far sought to repress. Tailing you relentlessly, refusing to be ignored or brushed aside or forgotten, this specter is hungry for your attention to the exclusion of all else. They will bring every painful association to light and rub those wounds raw, to a terrifyingly parasitic extent. They crave your attention, your love, your devotion, your fear. They are tethered to you, and cannot tolerate the thought that you might pay attention to anyone or anything else.

However they might have been in life, however fondly or not you may remember them, this shadow of them is merely that: a shadow. Desperate for your attention, and likely to grow jealous if you dare direct it anywhere else. They can't live without you. Why should you get to live without them?

In fact...why should you get to live at all? If you don't give them the attention they crave, they might start to demand it a shade more vigorously. They're only going to grow more solid as time wears on - and while no one but you can see them, they have the power to affect you very physically if they so choose.

Choose Your Own Adventure
What you have before you, dear traveler, is a very linear path forward. Deep, tropical woodland, jungle-like in texture and evening-dark, and a well-trodden path that stretches onward in a seemingly infinite, winding road. There is no way to go but backwards or forwards. Or, for the particularly brave...well, you could try moving off the beaten path, but we wouldn't recommend it. As it happens, the surrounding vegetation in this area is mostly comprised of a very irritating sort of foe.

As it happens, most traditional mimics take the form of wooden chests to befuddle and then snack upon any intrepid explorers foolish enough to open a container without checking for teeth first. Such is not always the case, however! Mimicries are what we will tentatively dub...distant cousins of your more conventional mimic. In the waking world, most of them prefer to assume the form of bushes, waiting for an unsuspecting traveler to tread upon the roots that will then snap around their ankles and reel them in, leaves parting to reveal a row of very nasty, very pointed jaws. Tonight, on Mu, their aptitude at blending into the vegetation to prey on the absent-minded explorer is out in full force.

While mimicries are very skilled at impersonating their surroundings, there are plenty of holes in their disguise for those keen of eye. An alert enough traveler may glimpse a pair of yellow, reptilian eyes blinking out from the vegetation before they fade just as fast. Mimicries are highly hostile, prone to attacking once they feel you've drawn close enough for them to take a good chomp, and don't tend to let go of their prey until either it is dead or they are. Armed with spiny teeth and a terrier-like refusal of relinquish their grip under any circumstances, mimicries can vary from genuine danger to outright irritant.

The good news is that, despite their number, mimicries are terribly vulnerable to fire. Happy hunting!

Caught in the Rainbow Current
On the more peaceful side of things, you're also liable to wake on a much quieter island destination - and this time, neither ghosts from your past nor RPG-styled foes will be there to spoil your stay!

Instead, you can take heart in the drifting, multicolored lights that shimmer off the seafoam and flotsam. A bale of kaleidoshells are passing through this region, and they're certainly taking their time in doing so. Resembling a cross between turtles and dugongs, kaleidoshells are so named for their distinctive radiance. Their scales and rainbow-colored shells can get as large as six feet across. The shifting colors on their backs are both bright and reflective. A vast enough number of kaleidoshells can allow for the illusion of an underwater aurora borealis, which is precisely what is occurring now. Kaleidoshells are placid and peaceable creatures by nature in addition to being unfailingly pretty to look at. As they are largely sea-dwelling, their presence in the archipelago is usually seasonal. However, despite the autumn season, Mu has elected to make an exception. Kaleidoshells are particularly slow and unwieldy on land, and thus not much of a threat, but you're probably better off not trying to poach their eggs. They do, however, make a very fine sight around the waters of Mu, especially in this artificial evening. Luminescent, their rainbow patterns glow underwater with the dim pulse of drifting mood lights.

So relax, take in the sights...or wade in to swim alongside them, if you like. They won't mind the company, and there's something singularly enchanting about getting to swim in the tide of a rainbow.

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Comments

[galrarm]

It was in the battle with Zarkon the second time.

[ He pauses. There's a part of him--a very big part--that feels incredibly guilty for leaving that universe. For coming here. Even if things are on pause, what if he never goes back?

His universe will remain stagnant, indefinitely. ]

I took the black bayard from him, and then I ended up here.

[diplomacycheck]

[She places her helmet down gently in the sand by her feet, clasping her hands in front of her as she stands up straight. If only so she could have a brief moment to school her expression so that she can speak of it as calmly as she can, considering the circumstances.]

It has been decaphoebs for me, since that battle. [And yet she recalls it clearly; how everyone was just behind Keith, running to Black to find him as unresponsive as his Paladin was-] The Blue Lion chose me as it's Paladin when Red called for Lance.

[galrarm]

Decaphoebs...

[ The word in relation to what she's saying feels wrong when he says it. His brows furrow. Shiro crosses his arms, considering. There are a lot of questions he has, but... it's obvious Allura is incredibly uncomfortable. ]

There's a lot I'm missing here, but if you don't want to tell me anything more, you don't have to.

[ The questions burn inside him, but Allura is his friend. He crosses over and gently places his hand on her shoulder. ]

Honestly, I'm just glad you're here. We've missed you.

[diplomacycheck]

I am as surprised as you are. For the team, it had only been a single of your earth years.

[And yet for the entire universe, it had been four times that amount. It has been phoebs since they learned this, yet she still has a hard time wrapping her mind around it.]

I'm sorry, Shiro. It's just that so much has happened since then, I'm not exactly sure where to start.

[And she means it; it shines in her gaze when she meets his at that touch to her shoulder. He is both a dear friend and family to her, and she doesn't want to lie to him. There's just so much to say it's overwhelming.]

[galrarm]

Just a single year.

[ Yeah, there's... definitely a lot he's missing. But instead of pressing the manner, he decides to let it go. For now. Of course he wants to know the truth, wants to know what all he's missed, but more importantly... ]

Don't worry about it. [ He's so, so sincere when he says it, too. ] It's disorienting enough, being in one place and then another so quickly. Especially a place like... this.

1/2

[diplomacycheck]

[]

[diplomacycheck]

You mean in this dream? [It... isn't that difficult a concept, compared to suddenly having a lot of additional phoebs on one of your closest comrades. And, yes. You truly have no idea, Shiro.]

I would argue this isn't nearly as disorienting as waking up ten thousand years into the future, but you have a point. Perhaps once I have settled?

[And, hopefully, not woken up in space hospital?]

[galrarm]

Hah, that's true enough.

[ He nods. ]

The others will be really happy to see you. It's just been Keith, Lance, Pidge and me until you showed up in this dream world. And honestly, I hope you won't have too much trouble settling in.

There are a lot of good people here.

[diplomacycheck]

[She laughs quietly and politely.] I'm sure it won't be too... challenging. Though I am still trying to wrap my head around the concept of your planet's birds species.

[And she's!! Been there!!! for at least two weeks!!! Will she say that, however?]

Lance tried to explain what a "chicken" is to me once. I don't think you want to know what came to mind.

[galrarm]

[ He raises his eyebrows. ]

Really. Now I'm curious.

[ In.... a morbid sort of way. Lance, what did you say?? ]

[diplomacycheck]

[She notices that look and is glad that the attempt to distract him is successful.]

Let us say he forgot to mention how small a chicken's beak is.

["Elephants" were worse, though she has yet to see one in person considering the state of Earth when they finally arrived.]